Dr. Josie Valderrama Licensed Psychologist

*Please note: While I do not take insurance, a sliding scale is available based on need.* I made the leap into the mental health field in my late thirties as a career transition. My goal was to learn how to unlock human potential - both in myself and in others. And I found that my heart opened up in this beautiful and unexpected way. I am humbled and elated by the opportunity to facilitate individuals on their hero's journey. I was also inspired to choose this profession due to a strong desire to be a beacon of hope and compassion. My own experiences of feeling invalidated as a therapy client during my 20s has helped inform my practice. It has served as a continual reminder of how precious, vulnerable and brave it is to engage in one's own therapy.

My practice tends to work at the intersection of BIPOC, gender, sexual and relational diversity (GSRD) and neurodiversity. I believe compatibility between therapist and client is highly variable and based not just on shared reality of identifiers or approaches. But that it can simply boil down to personality. And so I encourage all therapy seekers to explore far and wide, do a number of consults, and keep trying until you find that optimal fit in your therapeutic alliance. Don't get psyched out - trust yourself!

Having experienced decades of self-imposed blocks around the things that mattered to me most, I have a lot of empathy for clients in similar positions. Thankfully, I found a connection to the wisdom I was seeking and was able to get unblocked and step into a more authentic version of myself, both in my outward accomplishments and inner development. As such, my array of first-hand experience and related insights help form the foundation of my role as therapist. Of course, my job is not to give advice or conflate my story with your own. But the struggles and victories I have experienced undoubtedly inform the process, and can deepen the empathic attunement between us. In addition, experiencing microaggressions early on in grad school helped push me to network with others within gender, sexual and relational diversity (GSRD) communities. Eventually, we formed Bay Area Open Minds, which is now a 200+ strong organization of therapists allied to those practicing consensual non-monogamy, kink and the like.

• California, Licensed Psychologist, PSY27913

While I consider myself a liberation psychologist, much of my training took place within larger systems which, by their very nature, are imperfect and filled with hegemonic dysfunction. I trained for 3 years at a community mental health clinic within the San Francisco Department of Public Health, working alongside other psychologists as well as psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, social workers, counselors, marriage & family therapists, law enforcement and clerical staff. Clients included those with severe diagnoses, families, unhoused, and other at-risk and underserved populations. In addition, I trained for a year at a Native American community mental health clinic. I had the privilege of interacting and assisting indigenous staff and clients through therapy, pow wow and ceremony, as well as organizational decolonization. I was also trained in Ericksonian hypnotherapy here. My other clinical training took place at an assisted living facility for elders with a focus on dementia care.